Overview

• The Justice Department’s June memo directs prosecutors to pursue civil denaturalization with lower proof requirements and without guaranteed legal counsel or jury trials.
• A federal judge recently approved the Justice Department’s request to strip the citizenship of Elliott Duke under the new guidelines, marking an early test of the policy.
• President Trump has publicly announced plans to revoke the citizenship of Rosie O’Donnell, Elon Musk and Zohran Mamdani despite no legal basis to act on political disagreements.
• Constitutional scholars caution that broad referral categories—ranging from national security concerns to a catchall “important” label—risk politicized enforcement and violate 14th Amendment due process rights.
• Globally, 132 countries allow citizenship revocation for security reasons, and critics argue U.S. actions could mirror practices that lead to statelessness and human rights abuses.